Re: Unrecognised Gedcom tag: FREE

In message of 14 Feb, Wes Groleau <groleau+news@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

> Peter J Seymour wrote:
> > I'm trying to use a gedcom file that has a lot of occurrences of an 
> > unrecognised tag "FREE" at the 1 level under INDI (one per INDI). It 
> > typically occurs in association with BIRT and DEAT. Problem is I can't

> > figure out what it means and the rest of the data doesn't help either.

> > The main data seems to be a date. Can anyone shed light on this tag.
> 
> At the beginning of the GEDCOM there should be an identification
> of the program that created it.  That program's do***entation
> is the place to look.  If it was hand-edited, the person who
> created it is the one to ask.
> 
> If both of those are unavailable, post a few representative samples.

I am getting more and more uncomfortable about this use of GEDCOM files.

If you are taking in information, in a GEDCOM file for instance, from
another person, you may consider that their research methods are well
known and their word on something is almost as good as a lookup from
some primary do***ents.

But for the bulk of GEDCOMs you do not know this.  Does the originator
even say where he (or she) found the information?  Are sources includes
in the GEDCOM?  Are they good sources?  In any case you should endeavour
to check their sources by some means to satisfy yourself that the
information was valid.

So either you have well researched information from someone you know to
be a good researcher and you can ask them what they mean.  Or you have
checked it out yourself.  In either case you must be able to find very
easily what 'FREE' referred to.  If you can't find any source for FREE
or anything else like that, just leave it out.

But adding someone's GEDCOM without some verification of the data is
genealogical suicide.  (Perhaps all this copying of GEDCOMs around the
internet will be a means to the over-population problem?  :-) )

-- 
Tim Powys-Lybbe                                          tim@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 a miscellany of bygones: http://powys.org/